October 15, 2009 archive

What Are We Gonna Do?

What are we gonna do when  we don’t get true health care reform/out of Iraq and Afghanistan/torture investigations/financial reform/job creation/restored civil liberties/audit of the Fed/repeal of the Patriot Act?   I voted for Obama, admittedly getting a bit caught up in the whole spectacle.  But the reasons I disliked Bush and his cohorts, are the same reasons I am exasperated with Obama and his cohorts.   We aren’t getting any change.  Spare change maybe, but not change “you can believe in”.  As it’s going, Obama will go down in history as the most dishonest President we’ve ever had.  Much like Bush trying to make colonizing through occupation and torture legal, Obama has transformed the “chicken in every pot” political promising propaganda to a whole new level.  

I’ve thought since shortly after the election we wouldn’t get torture investigations.  We won’t “leave” Iraq by 2011.  We won’t get out of Afghanistan and in fact will escalate there and in Pakistan.  We won’t get single payer, which turned out to be a major understatement.  We won’t get financial reform as evidenced by the casinos open for business bonuses and financial gains made by the banks and Wall Street.   We won’t “recover” from this financial catastrophe because there is no plan for creating the millions of jobs that have been lost.  

Why have I been thinking that?  I’m like a jack of all trades, master of none.  I’m not an expert in geopolitics, realpolitik, or the machinations of the political system in the halls of Congress and the Senate.   But I’ve read stuff man.  Lots of stuff.  Stuff written by the experts.  Isn’t that how one learns?  Certainly contrarian views from the MSM and the Obamabots, but stuff that I believe speaks the truth.  Stuff from Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, Common Dreams, Real News Network, Truthdig, Salon, Asia Times, and on and on.  

Progressives complain about the MSM and the lack of true reporting.  Well, there is true reporting going on and it is coming from people who have spent the better parts of lives studying, analyzing and living the issues.  These are people that take honest looks at the serious issues regardless of what political party or administration is in charge.  They are consistent and look at the facts, not the promises from the speechmaker.    

Overnight Caption Contest

Health care reform, not an insurance company bailout

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed the Baucus health care bill.  

What a disappointment. No public health insurance plan. No universal coverage. No real price controls. Billions of taxpayer dollars for insurance companies.

Tell your members of Congress to support the best and simplest reform plan: Medicare for all.

After you take action, please help build the momentum for real health reform by telling 5 friends.

The U.S. health system has left 46 million Americans uninsured. [1]  45,000 people die every year due to lack of insurance. [2]  Insurance companies deny coverage to thousands more when they actually get sick. And insurance is simply too expensive for millions of people and businesses.

The Baucus bill solves none of those problems.  

By contrast, Medicare is so efficient that it could insure all Americans for the same amount of money that we now give to private corporations. [3]

Under such a single-payer system, you still get to choose your doctor… except without a profiteering insurance corporation standing between you and your health care.

Will you ask Congress to support real reform — in terms they can understand?

Yes! I’ll tell my members of Congress that I won’t support them unless they support Medicare for all.

Notes:

(1)  “Income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States: 2008.”  Census Bureau, September 10, 2009.

(2)  “Harvard study finds nearly 45,000 excess deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage.” Physicians for a National Health Program, September 18, 2009.

(3)  “Single payer system cost?” Physicians for a National Health Program.  

Pony Party!

Hi, my name is Youffraita (Youff for short) & I am at work tonight, so I will not be able to respond to comments until very late, at least by EST.

funny pictures of cats with captions
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The pony party is an open thread.  Please do not rec the party.  But please feel free to leave all comments, YTs, LOLs, or whatever you enjoy, in the comments section.

Top Banks + Unregulated Derivatives = Financial WMD

also posted on dkos

In the noble tradition of Muck-Rakers, who would investigate the misdeeds of the Wall Street power-brokers — this report examines some modern day gaming of our wild west Financial system.

Warren Buffet gave a prophetic pronouncement back in 2003, about the dangers out a new-fangled class of investment, which he called: “financial weapons of mass destruction“.  

Turns out, Wall Street maybe should have listened to Warren:

Then again with the TARP deal, that the top Wall Street Bankers finagled, from the Treasury and the Fed, and Record-setting DC Bailout which quietly swept all those Toxic Assets, under someone else’s rug — MAYBE the Wall Street Wizards, were right to ignore the ‘Oracle of Omaha’, eh?

Because of course, taking sound investment advice, assumes you are planning to … invest … soundly!

Desecration of Ceremony is Cultural Genocide

How can you educate the dominant culture, a mindset, that the desecration of Native American ceremony is cultural genocide?


Source

As early as 1933, Raphael Lemkin proposed a cultural component to genocide, which he called “vandalism.” However, the drafters of the 1948 Genocide Convention dropped that concept from their consideration.

One must make a connection between making profit from cultural components considered sacred, and to the severe damage done to the indigenous culture being preyed on and profited from. While indigenous people yet suffer the effects of a 500 year Holocaust, the overall dominant culture adheres to genocide denial. Plastic Medicine men charging money for fake ceremonies and the people who pay them is the issue at hand. Why is the desecration of Native American ceremonies cultural genocide? One word – relationships.

Load more